'The dead terrorist looked like any ordinary Indian'

When the firing began, I was in the main hall of Parliament. Security officers told us to stay there and restricted our movements. They were scared.

After some time I felt very claustrophobic and went towards the corridor. There, I told the security officers not to get too scared. If the incident has taken place, we should face it.

After that I went to Home Minister L K Advani's office and asked him about the incident, but he had no details.

So I went to see Defence Minister George Fernandes, but he too had very little information about the incident.

At about 1.45pm, security forces told us to go out of Parliament and we got out as usual. I saw the body of a terrorist lying near the gate. There was a small bag very close to him and police were confirming whether it contained RDX.

The dead terrorist looked like any ordinary Indian.

Nirupam is a Rajya Sabha member belonging to the Shiv Sena. He spoke to Vijay Singh.